Accreditation reprieve nears end
By Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
Updated Fri December 4, 2009
CMS is circulating a reminder to pharmacists: If you're not accredited, your time is almost up. In October, the deadline for accreditation was pushed to Jan. 1, 2010. We've seen a flurry of announcements in recent weeks from pharmacies who just received accreditation—those are the folks lawmakers and industry stakeholders had in mind when crafting the extension.
In the meantime, current health care reform includes a permanent exemption for pharmacies that bill Medicare for less than 5% of their DME revenues.
But pharmacists shouldn't wait around to see if that passes. The road to health care reform promises to be a long haul and there are no guarantees that pharmacists will ultimately escape accreditation.
And, don't forget about those surety bonds!
Theresa Flaherty
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